


if the shoe fits

by lesmiserablol



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Director Zuko, Dorks in Love, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Set Designer Sokka, Theatre, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25838581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesmiserablol/pseuds/lesmiserablol
Summary: The stranger is still there, and he doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave. Zuko, on the other hand, is anxious to wrap up his work for the night so he can meet his uncle for dinner. “Can I help you with something?”The man laughs. “I’m actually here for you. Short-tempered, badass scar, soft looking hair? You must be the director. I’m Sokka.”Zuko sputters. “What? I-I don't...who described me like that?”“Well, Jet just said short-tempered, I added the rest on my own,” Sokka shrugs. “He said you were looking for some help designing your set.”
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 131
Kudos: 1329





	if the shoe fits

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to the lovely people on the big zukka energy discord who came up with headcanons for Director Zuko and Set Designer Sokka and then encouraged me to write it into a fic! 
> 
> I went to a high school that put zero effort into the arts (my ancient lighting board gets a shout out here) and my brother went to a high school that went absolutely ham with a production of Cinderella. This fic is a love child of both experiences but set in college.
> 
> Anyway listen to "Ten Minutes Ago" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella because that's pretty much how Zuko and Sokka's relationship starts and it only gets better from there.

Zuko looks up from his binder curiously as he hears the side door of the auditorium open. He thought he had locked it once the cast had left, but the footsteps and distant whistling of "It's A Small World" tell him he thought wrong. 

A man walks into the house of the auditorium, and his whistling goes low as he takes in the sight: Zuko sprawled on the floor of center stage surrounded by the script, his notes, his open laptop, and a few walls from a recent student production propped up in the background. 

“Nice set,” the stranger grins, walking down an aisle of seats to approach Zuko from house left. “I didn’t know Cinderella took place in New York.”

Zuko scowls at the skyscrapers painted behind him for a moment, and his expression doesn’t change as he looks back to the man. He is probably around Zuko’s age, with dark skin and darker hair tied back at the top with the sides shaved. He has his hands in the pocket of his dark blue hoodie, and everything about his posture makes him appear relaxed and casual. In any other situation, Zuko would think he is cute. Okay, fine, maybe he thinks he is cute in this situation, too. But he’s still a little irritated over being interrupted while trying to work out a new idea for the clock that had suddenly come to mind and is now quickly fading from his mind. 

“It doesn’t. That’s what we’ve been using for blocking since I had another set designer quit a few days ago. They won’t look like that for the show even if I have to build the palace walls myself," Zuko says indignantly. 

The stranger raises an eyebrow, looking amused. “Good luck with that, pal. If I see a fairy godmother around, I’ll send her your way to make it happen for you.”

Zuko returns to scribbling notes on his new ideas on a blank sheet of paper before looking back up and narrowing his eyes. The stranger is still there, and he doesn’t seem in a hurry to leave. Zuko, on the other hand, is anxious to wrap up his work for the night so he can meet his uncle for dinner. “Can I help you with something?”

The man laughs. “I’m actually here for you. Short-tempered, badass scar, soft looking hair? You must be the director. I’m Sokka.”

Zuko sputters. “What? I-I don't...who described me like that?”

“Well, Jet just said short-tempered, I added the rest on my own,” Sokka shrugs. “He said you were looking for some help designing your set.”

Zuko blinks, and he stands up and takes the steps that lead off the side of the stage and down into the aisle that Sokka is standing in, offering his hand to shake, his other hand holding his directing binder. “Right. Uh, I’m Zuko. The director. You know that though. Are you majoring in engineering as well?”

“Finishing my second year.” Sokka tips an invisible hat. “Word on the street says my Architectural Engineering professor will accept the set design as a final project.” 

“Well, the other engineering majors I’ve gone through in the past week and a half didn’t last more than a few days, I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories,” Zuko sighs. “But if you want the gig, it’s yours.”

“All I’ve heard is that you’re a bit of a perfectionist,” Sokka tells him. 

“Yes, it’s a side effect of being the least favorite child,” Zuko mutters to himself, but Sokka hears him and he laughs. 

“Now that I can relate to,” Sokka says. “My sister was always the star on stage, the audience favorite in high school. I helped backstage, hidden in the wings both literally and figuratively.”

“You actually have theatre experience?” Zuko raises his eyebrows. “That’s...I’ve been trying to find a set designer with theatre experience this whole time!” 

“So what you’re saying is that I’m the guy you’ve been looking for?” Sokka asks cheekily. 

Zuko doesn’t look up from his binder as he opens it and shuffles through the papers. “Hm? Oh yeah, that’s what I just said.” 

Sokka shakes his head, laughing softly. “You’re cute.”

“I don’t have time to be cute right now, I have a show opening in three weeks,” Zuko responds quickly, although he can’t hide the blush on his face as he continues to avoid eye contact. He’s known Sokka for all of four minutes and he already has an idea of the type of guy he is: flirt now, leave on read later. Kinda like Jet. He may be attractive, but Sokka could look like a zombie from one of the movies that Mai enjoyed watching in high school and Zuko wouldn't bat an eye, as long as he could design a set. 

Sokka raises an eyebrow. “Three weeks? Why so soon, where’s the fire?”

Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose. “My advisor suggested I direct another show to build up my resume, but the theater is booked for all of the next month, plus...never mind! It’s complicated. The point is I gave myself five weeks to solo direct a musical and so here I am. Anyway.” Before Sokka can respond, Zuko hands him a stack of papers. “Are you familiar with the show?”

"Of course," Sokka answers. "I stole my sister’s plastic glass Cinderella slippers all the time when we were kids, but don’t tell her. Then my high school put it on during my freshman year and I developed a huge crush on the Prince. Safe to say I made it to every show so I could watch him.”

“Great,” Zuko says, suddenly very aware of the fact that he is a guy, and Sokka is a guy, and Sokka had a crush on a guy at least once in his life. Did he hallucinate it or did Sokka even call him cute earlier? Not important. “Here are some of my ideas.”

Sokka looks through the papers, his jaw dropping at the last page. “You want me...to design a carriage?”

Zuko braces himself. Two of the engineers he talked to didn’t make it past the idea of the carriage. Jet wanted to throw out his idea entirely and place a cardboard cutout on wheels and put more effort into the set for the palace and Cinderella's home instead. Zuko has done enough research to know that it will be a pain, and a lot of work, and some serious talent. But if he’s going to do this, he wants it done the right way, and he will not budge on the carriage, damn it.

Sokka looks up from the papers, and Zuko is stunned to see not a look of disbelief or hesitation on Sokka’s face, but one of excitement. 

Zuko swallows. “Yes. I want a carriage.”

“That will be amazing! And you already have so many notes for it, this is exactly the level of detail I love to work with. We should go shopping for the materials on - what day is it, Monday? Yeah, okay, I'm free tomorrow after 1pm if that works for you? You can decide on the paint and help me carry all the wood and everything. How does that sound?”

Zuko blinks, distracted by Sokka’s rambling and his smile, before realizing he needs to answer, and he gives a nod. "That would be great, actually. Can we meet here at 1:40?"

"Sure thing boss, give me your phone and I'll add my number so you can text me in case anything comes up."

Sokka continues to talk as he takes the phone and creates a new contact, and it isn’t until Zuko gets home that night that he realizes the number is saved under “Cute Set Designer ;)”

Opening night is in three weeks and four days. Closing night is in a little under four weeks. Zuko can entertain the thought of cute guys in four weeks. For now, he needs to focus. 

(He doesn’t bother to change the contact name.)

* * *

Jet had been fine as a set designer. Sometimes he showed up late and left early and he didn’t give Zuko’s designs any serious consideration, but he could build a set. He was the engineering major that had lasted the longest out of the four that he had worked with. That wasn’t saying much, considering he only showed up for six days before sending Zuko a message that said “i’ll send someone else over to help out” and then unfriending him on Facebook. 

Sokka isn’t like that at all. Sokka often shows up to the auditorium before Zuko. Sokka didn’t mind how picky Zuko was about the paint colors for the carriage and the palace walls when they went shopping together, even taking the time to drive him to another store to compare the options there until they found the perfect shades. Sokka’s changes to Zuko’s designs are only improvements that he can’t believe he didn’t think of. And Zuko is at the auditorium often enough to see a sweaty Sokka working hard on building the set with volunteers from the cast and crew. 

Zuko had initially judged Sokka to be a bit of a player, but he is quickly proven wrong. He’s one of the most sincere people he has ever met, and he instantly fits in with the rest of the crew who have all known each other for months or even years. He continues to flirt, but it's never just superficial, and Zuko definitely doesn’t dwell on the fact that he’s the only one on the receiving end of it all.

Sokka may be the best set designer - or crew member, for that matter - Zuko has ever worked with in his years of theatre. But he’s also the most distracting. 

Two and a half more weeks to go, he reminds himself.

* * *

“Alright, now give me lighting cue number 27,” Sokka shouts, glancing up from his binder. It was one that Zuko found backstage, complete with a fading Hello Kitty design on the front. Sokka has held onto it since.

Zuko presses the key on the lighting board to start the next cue, and the lights on stage adjust accordingly, making the background look like a sky just after dusk while the lights focused on the palace walls brighten. Sokka is standing on the edge of the stage and he drops his binder at his feet before jumping off and taking a few steps down the aisle, walking backward to keep his eyes on the set. He tilts his head to the side and returns to his binder to make a few notes.

“Number 28!” Sokka calls. 

Zuko presses the button again, being as gentle as possible. The lighting board in the auditorium designated for independent student productions is as old as the lighting booth is cold. Aang had warned him to not fiddle with the thermostat for fear of burning the entire building down. He had also warned Zuko to not mess with any of the dozen cords sticking out of the back of the board, and he didn’t need to tell Zuko twice. The memory of the closing night of Toph’s original play last year stuck with him. Something went wrong with one cord, causing the entire stage to blackout four times during the second to last scene. 

(When they had explained it to Toph after curtain call, too frantic in the moment to tell her what was going on, she had laughed. 

“For what it’s worth, the stage always is dark to me.”)

Zuko’s phone starts to vibrate and he rolls his eyes as he answers the call. 

“What?” he asks. 

“Hello to you too. Am I still 'Cute Set Designer winky face' on your phone?” 

Yes. “Why are you calling me?”

“For what it’s worth, you’re 'Cute Director winky face' on my phone. And I got tired of yelling,” Sokka replies from the other end, and with just one good ear it’s much easier for Zuko to hear him like this. He wonders if that is the real reason why Sokka called him, and he smiles to himself. “Cue number 29, please.”

Zuko obediently presses the key. “Is this helping?”

“Definitely. I once made the mistake of not working close enough with the lighting designer for the sets. The reds looked orange during dress rehearsal and we had to make a midnight run to Walmart to get a new can of paint, but it didn’t dry completely in time for the first performance.”

Zuko hums. He’s noticed the habit Sokka has of telling stories like this, and it reminds him of his uncle, minus the vague wisdom underlying the words. Most of the time.

“If that happened I would probably just throw away the entire set,” Zuko muses. 

“I worked hard on this, don’t you dare!” Sokka protests. 

Zuko finds himself laughing at the mock panic in Sokka's voice. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I never thought I’d be in a production where I wasn’t the hardest working crew member, but you’re definitely giving me a run for my money. Seriously, those windows look straight out of a real palace.”

Sokka turns from where he’s still making notes to give Zuko a bow. “Cue number 30. I’m flattered, it’s honestly a lot of fun to be back in theatre. Right now I’m just making sure we have enough coats of paint on everything, Aang and I already worked on making the colors look good under the lights. We’re going to add some more shadows and whatnot depending on the tone of each scene, but that’s for the official start of tech week tomorrow.” 

“That...that will be great,” Zuko says. Seriously, did he hit the set designer jackpot? “Aang’s on a date tonight, yeah?” He doesn’t know why he brings it up, but now he can’t take it back. 

“Yep.” Sokka pops the ‘p’. “With my sister. Cue 31.”

Realization dawns on Zuko as he presses the key. “Your sister is Katara?”

“The one and only,” Sokka confirms, then pauses. “Wait, how do you know her?”

"I’ve known Aang since freshman year when we joined a theatre club together. Even though he left when he changed his major, he still does my lighting as a favor to me and to be involved in the arts. I’ve only met his girlfriend a few times but I’ve also heard plenty of stories about how beautiful, stubborn, and determined she is. It must run in the family.” 

“I’m going to take all of that as a compliment. You still want the glossy finish on walls 1-3?” 

“Yes, if you can, that would be great.” Zuko says. 

Sokka turns around for just a moment to give Zuko a thumbs up. “Of course I can. Remember the part about being stubborn and determined?”

“Yeah. I remember,” Zuko replies, and his voice reminds himself a little too much of the dreamy tone that Aang takes on whenever he talks about his girlfriend. Zuko has a brief daydream about the four of them going on a double date when Sokka’s voice interrupts him. 

“Cue number 69.”

Zuko snorts. “I’m not acknowledging that. Cue number 32, coming up.”

“Just making sure you were paying attention.”

Zuko presses the key before he can say something stupid about how he always pays attention to Sokka. 

“So what about you?” Sokka asks. “Been on any dates recently?” 

Zuko shakes his head but then realizes Sokka can’t see him. “Are you kidding me? I decided to put on a musical within a month, so it’s a month of celibacy for me.” 

Sokka laughs, the sound echoing in the empty auditorium. “Makes sense.”

“And you?”

“Please, you think I’d be here on a Monday night at 10pm if I could be cuddling someone as we rewatch Parks and Rec instead?” Sokka asks. “I’m only joking, of course I would, but it helps that I don’t have anyone around to be jealous of you and all the time we get to spend together.”

Zuko laughs, but internally his heart soars. Sokka is single. Aang had already told him as much, but still, it’s nice to hear Sokka confirm it himself. 

Six more days.

* * *

Zuko has never felt more relaxed about an opening night before in his life. It’s only days away, but somehow that information is...fine. He has the nagging feeling that he needs to be more freaked out about it, but he continuously reminds himself that there is no reason to have more than an average amount of stress. 

It’s a larger scale production compared to some of his recent projects, but it is still very small. There aren’t many ensemble members and they all play several roles, and he keeps waiting for one to disappear off the face of the earth or get injured in a spontaneous weekend hiking trip (both of which have happened in recent history) only to find his worries are in vain. 

Tech week is a success, the costumes turn out perfect, and the set design is complete except for the finishing touches that Sokka has to make to the carriage. He insists that Zuko can’t see it until it’s completely ready, and if it were anyone else, Zuko would stand his ground and demand to see every step of the process. But somehow he finds it easy to trust Sokka with this.

Zuko isn’t usually one to trust quickly, but with Sokka, it comes so naturally. Sokka is so easy to talk with that one night during a midnight run to McDonald’s after they both stayed late in the auditorium, Zuko found himself in Sokka’s passenger seat explaining how he got into this career path when he moved to live with his uncle as a teenager and picked up Iroh’s love of theatre. And with that he explained why he moved in with his uncle in the first place, and how he got his scar. Sokka had put his McFlurry down and listened closely, solemnly, and when Zuko finished he had asked, “Do you want me to give you a hug now or crack a joke to make you smile?”

(The answer had been both.) 

Somewhere between internally denying his crush on Sokka and eating dinners with him on the floor of the lobby when they can spare the time before rehearsal, Zuko decided that Sokka was a very good partner. As far as work related partners go, of course. Well, Sokka was probably a good romantic partner, too, the kind of boyfriend who listens to you and helps you remember everything on the shopping list that you left on the counter and surprises you with takeout during exam week. Zuko assumes so, at least. But he won’t think about that for another four days. 

The day of dress rehearsal, Zuko shows up to the auditorium early to look over his notes, get in the zone, and finish his tea before the cast is scheduled to show up. He isn’t surprised to see Sokka waiting for him, but at the look on Sokka’s face he raises an eyebrow. 

“It’s time for the grand reveal,” Sokka says in a hushed voice. 

“Really?” Zuko gasps, matching his tone. He had half expected Sokka to hide the carriage from him until it rolled out on stage in a few hours. His excitement mounts as he unlocks the auditorium and lets them in. 

He barely has time to set all his stuff down before Sokka grabs him by the hand and leads him backstage to a sort of storage space for sets. In the middle of the room there is a large object hidden under a paint-stained sheet that they use to protect the stage while painting the set pieces. 

“Are you ready?” Sokka asks, giving Zuko’s hand a squeeze, and Zuko nods, the anticipation and excitement building. 

Sokka lets go of him and steps forward, pulling off the sheet with a dramatic, “Ta da!”

Zuko’s jaw drops open. 

Before he lost his mother, he remembers his family going on a trip to Disneyland in Tokyo. It had been late for two kids aged ten and eight years old, and they were getting ready to go back to the hotel when Zuko noticed the last parade of the night and begged his mother to let him watch it. His father left with Azula while the two of them stayed and watched the parade continue down the path. There were dancers, musicians, and costumed characters that Zuko swore waved right at him. His mother carried him on her back so he could see until a woman noticed him and said there was space next to her grandchildren in front of her for him to stand with. His mother had smiled and encouraged him to go, so he gently pushed through a few strangers to make it to the edge of the sidewalk when he had seen her. 

Cinderella was standing in her carriage as it gently rolled forward. She was surrounded by twinkling lights hanging on the poles of the open carriage, and the rest of the crowd seemed to disappear. Zuko remembered being in awe as he admired the princess in all her glory, complete with a dazzling carriage, when she noticed him and gave a wave and blew him a kiss. The rest of the parade continued on but Zuko found himself craning his neck to watch her carriage until it disappeared entirely.

This carriage isn’t unlike that. It looks like it could have rolled down the streets of a Disney parade that morning. He hadn’t intentionally been trying to create such a similar replica from his childhood while he was researching and sketching ideas, but now that it is before him, he can’t deny the similarities.

It’s smaller - their Cinderella won’t be standing in it - but the wheels are large, the wood carved with precision into a simple but elegant design. The body of the open carriage is made of poles that start at the wooden base and meet at the top and each one is carefully wrapped with Christmas lights. Zuko has to take a step forward and gently touch it to confirm that the poles are just painted PVC pipe and not actually made of precious metal. When Sokka had told him his idea to use the pipes and warp them into shape with heat, Zuko had resisted, but Sokka reassured him with some sample pipes and YouTube tutorials. Zuko doesn’t know what he expected, but the final result is even better than he could’ve dreamed of. Inside, the seat for their princess and the base of the carriage are also a shining silver, and Zuko resists the urge to sit on the fancy cushion. The lights twinkle as if the whole thing is sparkling. It’s definitely princess worthy.

Sokka is silent as he watches Zuko slowly walk around it, his hands light, almost reverent as he touches the finished product. 

Zuko looks up to meet Sokka’s gaze, his vision blurring slightly as his good eye starts to tear up. Sokka is smiling but there’s a hint of nervousness in his expression as he looks back at Zuko. “So? What do you think? Did I pass the test to be your set designer or do you want to try another engineering major?”

Zuko’s mind helpfully supplies him with memories of the last few weeks: Sokka initially showing up in the auditorium to offer his help, Sokka staying late on multiple occasions to finish something and keep Zuko company, Sokka remembering his tea order and bringing it to rehearsals, Sokka quoting at least half the lines of whichever Parks and Rec episode they decided to watch during dinner breaks, Sokka calling him at random times of the day to bring up a new idea for the set or ask Zuko to remind him of the lyrics to the Pokemon theme song.

Sokka winking at him when he caught Zuko staring at the way Sokka tied his hair up and out of his sweaty face to continue his construction on the large clock.

Sokka squinting on the stage but commenting on how Zuko’s smile still outshines the bright stage lights. 

Sokka and him texting back and forth throughout the day, the new texts showing up as “Cute Set Designer ;)” in his notifications. 

Zuko thinks about closing night, just a few days away. They are only performing five shows over the one-weekend run, five shows done in the student auditorium with the ancient lighting board and the broken water fountains, but Sokka faithfully showed up to every rehearsal and gave it his all anyway. He didn’t hold back. The windows. The clock. The palace walls. The carriage. Everything.

And right then Zuko decides that actually, he does have time for cute boys while he’s in the middle of a show. At least, for one cute boy in particular who is still smiling at him shyly. If anything, Zuko thinks he will be more distracted if he walks away and pushes off this sudden rush of feelings until closing night. 

Zuko takes the few steps around the carriage to stand in front of Sokka, who is watching him closely, and stops to leave just the smallest amount of distance between them. He hears Sokka’s breath catch in his throat as Zuko moves one hand to cup his jaw. “It’s perfect,” he says softly, before moving forward to meet Sokka’s lips in a kiss. 

Sokka doesn’t hesitate for a moment. He grins against the kiss and immediately pulls him closer by the hips, kissing back with lips that are impossibly soft. Zuko’s hand travels back to play with the closely shaved hairs at the nape of Sokka’s neck, enjoying the sigh that comes out of Sokka’s mouth as he does so.

Zuko pulls back after only a few moments, but he doesn’t put much space between them quite yet, enjoying how beautiful the colors of Sokka’s eyes look up close, the lights of the carriage reflected in them.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for three and a half weeks,” Zuko admits, breaking the silence. 

Sokka laughs lowly, and Zuko can feel the vibrations in his chest. “Yeah, pretty much. I tried to give you space, I didn’t want to distract you from your show, but...I just couldn’t stay away.”

Zuko takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, leaning their foreheads together. “We have dress rehearsal in an hour.”

“Yep.”

“We open tomorrow.”

“That’s right.”

“This is the biggest production I’ve pulled off as a solo director.” Zuko takes another deep breath, willing his nerves to calm down. Everything is ready to go. There is no reason this production won’t go smoothly. He kissed Sokka. Sokka kissed him. The carriage looks fantastic. That kiss was fantastic.

“You should be proud. It’s going to be amazing, Zuko.”

Zuko opens his eyes and matches Sokka’s smile, leaning in for another kiss, but Sokka stops him with a finger on his lips.

“Trust me, I would love to stay backstage with you and give you three and a half weeks worth of kisses, but now it’s time to shift into Director Mode. You worked your ass off on this, I don’t want you to dare think about getting distracted from your masterpiece by lil old me. Right now, focus on this show. Focus on your cast. Then once the curtain closes on closing night, I’ll be there. I’m not going anywhere. Okay?”

He moves his finger from Zuko’s lips and Zuko pulls him into a tight hug. “Have I ever told you how amazing you are? You're like my own personal fairy godmother, making all my dreams come true.”

“You could stand to mention it more,” Sokka responds, and Zuko can hear the grin in his voice. “Now go. I know you have a long list of things you want done before dress rehearsal starts, and I do too. Let’s do this.”

* * *

Seeing the carriage roll onto stage for dress rehearsal is enough to once again bring tears to Zuko’s eyes. He’s sitting in the last row of seats, close enough to where he can hear Aang gasping in the lighting booth behind him, and Zuko has to put a conscious effort into watching the rest of the stage and not just stare at the carriage the whole scene. As he always does, Sokka offers any additional help once rehearsal wraps up and when Zuko turns down the offer he gives a friendly wave as he leaves. Zuko is grateful for it, he has a lot on his mind and it would be oh so easy to kiss Sokka backstage instead of gather all his thoughts together.

The Friday night opening show is a success. Zuko sits house left, and it may or may not have to do with the perspective he gets on the sets from that angle. Then again, sitting house center for the Saturday matinee also provides a great view. 

Aang sits down next to him while they all eat pizza on stage between shows. “We’ve been having quite the turn out, so far. And Suki tells me tickets are going fast for tonight and for both shows tomorrow.”

Zuko gives him a look. “Remember the first play I co-directed? And how there were maybe two dozen people in the audience? We’ve come a long way since then.”

Aang laughs. “You deserve it. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Sokka has been promoting it like crazy, posting all about it the past few weeks. He’s low-key Instagram famous around campus.”

“He’s been posting about it?” Zuko asks, his eyes searching out the set designer from the crowd. He’s sitting on the edge of the stage and one of the ensemble members is standing in front of him, leaning against his knees as he braids her hair and laughs at something that her girlfriend says. Her girlfriend nudges Sokka and whispers something and he turns, making eye contact with Zuko. He winks and Zuko ducks his head down, staring at the store bought cookie on his plate with a smile.

Aang laughs. “For what it’s worth, I think you two are cute together.”

Zuko’s face turns red, and before he can sputter out a response, Aang is grinning.

“Yes, I know about the kiss. After Jet talked to him, I was the one who encouraged him to give this show a shot and then I was the one who listened to him pine after you for weeks, so naturally I was the first one he told.”

“So you’re the one I have to thank for him showing up here in the first place?” Zuko asks. 

Aang laughs. “Yep, that’s true. You can show your appreciation by going on a double date with Katara and I sometime. She’s been talking about it ever since she realized that the 'Cute Director winky face' that Sokka was always texting was you."

Zuko laughs. “I’d like that.”

* * *

“Is this seat taken?”

Zuko looks up to see Sokka grinning at him and offers a smile in return. “It’s all yours.”

Sokka beams wider and sits down in the empty aisle seat next to him, running a hand through his hair that hangs freely today. “Closing night, can you believe it?”

Zuko shakes his head. Weeks ago, he had been counting down the days until he would ask Sokka out on a date, but that only distracted him from the bittersweet ending that all shows must come to. Now that it's here, it's hard to believe how fast the time flew by. As the house lights begin to dim and Sokka grabs his hand, he smiles at the stage and tries to enjoy this moment while it lasts. 

They’re giving a standing ovation with the rest of the audience, cheering loudly for all the cast as they bow, when Sokka grabs Zuko’s hand and starts to pull him into the aisle. Zuko realizes he’s being led to the stage only when they reach the steps. He’s already blushing by the time that Sokka pushes him to the center of the stage, bowing slightly as the audience cheers even louder. He looks back to Sokka, who disappears backstage briefly and reappears with a large bouquet of red roses. Zuko’s smile widens and he accepts them gratefully, surprised when Sokka gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and then stays by his side as Zuko takes a handheld microphone from a cast member and takes a few minutes to thank the audience, the cast, and the crew for putting the show together. Sokka beams when the audience applauds him for his set designing, bouncing in place out of excitement. 

As soon as the curtain closes, Sokka gives him another kiss on the cheek and a side hug, careful with the roses. “You did it!”

“We did it,” Zuko corrects.

“Okay, I did some of it,” Sokka admits. “But it was all because of you! And it was amazing!”

“You think so?”

“I know so. So much better than the one my high school did. The only downside was the fact that I couldn’t watch my crush the whole time because he wasn’t on the stage."

“Oh really?” Zuko raises an eyebrow. “Because I definitely caught you watching me a few times during the show.”

“Fine, you got me there. You’re the one who let me sit next to you, I don’t know what you expected. Good thing we didn’t sit together for all the other shows because I barely refrained from making out with you like we were teenagers in a movie theater.”

Zuko rolls his eyes. “At least buy me dinner first.”

“Deal,” Sokka says quickly. “Where do you want to go?”

Zuko is exhausted from the past few days, but sleep doesn’t sound nearly as enticing as it did a few minutes ago. “Well, first we have the cast party, but afterward...I know a taco truck that is open until 3am?”

“It’s a date.” Sokka winks and leads them off stage. 

“But we’re getting a rain check on that movie theater date sometime, yeah?” Zuko asks, nodding at the excited cast members that give him thumbs ups and waves as they walk by. 

“Oh, absolutely,” Sokka says seriously. 

Zuko smiles, grabbing Sokka’s hand to intertwine their fingers. Sokka smiles back at him.

(And they lived happily ever after.)

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway I used [this picture](https://pin.it/7aoojq2) for inspiration for Sokka's carriage!
> 
> Please leave kudos/comments if you liked this! And check out my other Zukka fics if you haven't yet!
> 
> I'm also on tumblr [here](https://bisexuallsokka.tumblr.com/) :)


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